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In our workshops, we incorpo- rated the games and theatre tech- niques of Brazilian artist Augusto Baal. in groups led by David Diamond of Vancouver's Headlines Theatre With frankness and pas- sion, the teens shared their stories, thoughts and feelings about their lives and the world they lived in What they had to say was both sur- prising and alarming They talked about how hard II is to believe in anything in a world that wems to be falling apart the school cy‘tem, job opportunities. the environment and their own families They spoke about peer group labeling. domestic and public violence, the omnipres- ence of values learned from televi- sion and the movies, and about how One issue that came up repeat- edly was suicide. The statistics are startling. Canada has the third high- est rate of teen suicide in the indus- trialized world -_- particularly high in the aboriginal population - and the rate continues to climb. Suicide is the second leading cause of death (after motor vehicle accidents) for Canadians aged i5to 29. Since 1950, the suicide rate for male youth has increased by 268 per cent and. for female youth by 133 per cent. One out of every 10 teenagers today will attempt suicide by the age of M (Source Health Canada) But the stats reveal only part of the reality. Suicide is a symptom of a whole set of issues teens are facing today - and Canada has no national strate- gies to deal with the problem? ix years ago f spent a week in a Slarge urban Vancouver high school where my company. DanceArts Vancouver, was perform- ing in the school's auditorium. As the mother of a then preadolescent daughter, I as profoundly shaken by the teen world I encountered in the school. This experience led to the creation of an in-depth workshop process - the beginning of the ICE Project. Over a two-year period. 250 teens from diverse backgrounds came together to explore their thoughts and feelings about the issues and realities they face. Lees listen to what young people are saying You said it ARE YOU READY TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL? QUESTION When "ICE" was first staged in front of young audiences in Vancouver, it was followed by after- show "talkbacks" which proved to be impassioned and cathartic events, When we received letters from teens saying that seeing the production had prevented them from committing suicide, we decid. ed to mount a national tour. i have Seen lawn sprays applied on smog-alert days and I fear for the The culmination of these work- shops is a full-scale, high-energy. live production entitled ICE: beyond cool -- a combination of dance, the- atre, music and special effects, with a cast of 15 young professional actors and dancers. City of Waterloo is to be applauded for its initiative to become pesticide-free This is one of the sanesl moves we ran all make to Improve air qual- ity and health of all Waterloo resi- dents, especially for children. the elderly, and those suffering from respiratory illness, was very pleased to read in the IWaterloo Chronicle about the City of Waterloo's initiative to reduce and eliminate pesticide use m the region desensitized and numb they often feel, that they belong nowhere, that their only value to society is as con- sumers, and that they often invoke anger or fear in adults merely by their presence. Although most revealed their longing to fit into a community, for many the only goal was simply survival. llrl Although most revealed their longing to fit into a community, for many the only goal was simply survival. For the next two years. we "Yes, I'm getting clothes and stuff. I really like my new school supplies and new clothes." "No, just because I like the summer bet ter. [don't miss any- thing about school." hTirrciirdVGi] _ . OuigSpemr COMMENT Brian Dealer is to be commend- ed for his pioneering effort in reduc» tion of pesticide use, and the City of Waterioo is to be applauded for its initiative to become pesticide-free I am in total support of creating a bylaw to achieve this effect Barbara StanHeiOmtrum, MA, Environmental Studies. UW fused with a sense of hope. ICE: beyond cool, brings these young voices to a larger public through the potency of theatre, music and dance. Our teem have been taught how not to reveal themselves This is alithemmereasorttobethemfor them -- to really listen to what ypung people are saying - when long- term consequences ofour chil- dren walking to school. inhaling pesticides applied on too many lawns The ICE Project has taught me that our teenagers are the litmus paper for our whole culture - and that we must listen to them. What they tell us, when given a chance, is a wake-up call, one which is still suf- For more information about the ICE: beyond cool national tour, please theck out the following web, ma: worked to bring together school boards, health and social welfare agencies, gay/lesbian youth groups, service clubs, arts groups, youth- run agencies, crisis lines, the police, and parks and recreation people in eight cities across Canada. to sup- port this colossal project. For a long time, it seemed an improbable dream. but now. through the collab- oration of many agencies, corpora tions and individuals, the tour has finally become a reality. ihey adspdak MuchMusiccom danceansbcca Mum-W choreographerandartistk director ofDancz/Irrs Mmeoaaer, "No, because I dont want to go back to school. It's no fun and my school doesnt even have a play- ground. "Yes, I'm getting a new backpack and new clothes. I'm really looking forward to Brianne Mason The Rae government can be proud of a number of significant accomplishments. including The Environmental Bill of Rights, which created the role of Environmental Commissioner increased public participation in environmental decisions. The Statement of Political Relationship with Ontario's First Nations. recognizing their inherent right to self-government. The Employee Wage Protection Fund, which ensured that laid off workers would get the money that they were owed. The exten- sion of pay equity to cover one million more women. The high- est minimum wage in the country (though it hasn't increased since 1995). The largest increase ever to funding for women's shelters, programs aimed at stopping violence against women. and new subsidized day care spaces. The construction of more affordable housing units than any other provincial government in Canadian history. On a personal level, it's clear that Bob Rae was a decent, caring premier who genuinely tried to improve the lives of Ontario residents. Never driven by ideology. he was cer tainly less of a progressive than many of us were hoping, but he was a heck of a lot better than any of his predecessors v and far far better than his successor Last week. Rae was in the news twice: once when he successfully negotiated a compensation deal for tainted blood victims and a second time when he was on a short list of potential mediators in the Burnt Church lobster dispute That he commands so much respect across Canada today is perhaps the greatest measure of his success as premier Permitting Sunday shopping (after SCOTT campaigning against it) invited Harris FIATKOWSKI to loosen rules regarding statutory holi- days. The Social Contract showed Harris that he could gain political points by beating up on pub- lic servants, teachers and health care workers. Those who initial- ly supported the NDP government were remarkably unforgiving. Rather than focusing on specific points of disagreement, the ten- dency was to launch into a wholesale denunciation of the gov- ernment record. I remember one particular meeting in which community activists voted enthusiastically to condemn the Rae government for increasing welfare rates by "only two per cent". Of course, a few years later Harris cut those rates by 22 per cent, and they haven't been increased since. Many of us forgot that politics is about choices between alternatives; as Rae himself liked to say, "perfection isn't on the ballot". When the government did launch worthwhile policies. its supporters were remarkably reluctant to get out there and sup- port them. NDP labour Minister Bob Mackenzie got only a trick- le of mail in favour of the government's groundbreaking labour reforms. Key policies like employment equity, photo radar and social housing were implemented without the consensus build- ing that is so necessary in politics Thus, Harris was able to quick- ly reverse those policies with barely a whimper of public opposi- non. 1990 was likely the worst possible time to take over as premier of Ontario. The economic boom of the late '80s was giving way to the worst continent-wide recession since the Great Depression. The effects of the Free Trade Agreement were decimating Ontario's tax base and bringing new demands on government. As if this wasn't enough, the Mulroney and Chretien govern- ment's systematically attacked Ontario through drastic cuts to transfer payments and other policies. Thanks to a compliant media, Mike Harris was able to turn the blame for the resulting deficit onto the -r- NDP, when the reality was that very lit- ) Milltl " “H l tle of the shortfall resulted from new ‘ " " r It . 1 program spending. 1 rt I E & l For me, the most troubling initia- tives of the Rae era were those that "opened the door" for far worse policies by the Harris Tories. Building the province's nrst casinos in Windsor, Niagara Falls and Rama gave Harris and company the green light to turn nearly every race into a casino and open up five so-called charity casinos (with more to come). In retrospect. it's clear that many of those expectations were unrealistic. As disappointing as it was to watch many key NDP policies fall by the wayside or be altered beyond recognition, it's unfair to villfy Rae for all of his government's shortcomings. Still, many of those failures could have and should have been avoid- ed. At the same time, the Rae government accomplished a lot more than most people are willing to acknowledge. Particularly in the wake of five years of bludgeoning (and blundering) by the Harrisites, Bob Rae looks pretty good. ept. 6, 1990 was the happiest day of my life in politics (as dis- tinct from my life as a normal person). The election of Bob Rae as the first NDP premier of Ontario unleashed a torrent of pent-up expectations on the part of thousands of people like myself who had worked to get the party elected - but who had probably never dreamed that it would actually happen. Ten years after